Luce Foundation Center for American Art

Craft: Jewelry: Nine Tantric Amulets for Jasper Johns

William Harper

(born Bucyrus, OH 1944)

William Harper suffers from chronic migraine headaches, and uses his recovery period to conceptualize his pieces. Because of his condition, he chooses to focus on the idea behind a piece rather than its method of production. He says, “I have tried to avoid all metalsmithing trends in contemporary terms. I do what I want to do. My work is a natural progression of conceptualization with materials.” His work is inspired by found objects, magic, and ancient tribal cultures, which he approaches, in his own words, like “a wizard, a sorcerer . . . and alchemist.”